Men's Hockey Resumes Conference Play Against RPI

The No. 4/4 Harvard men’s ice hockey team was firing on all cylinders entering its break for final exams, reeling off a six-game winning streak and nabbing a share of first place in the conference race. The Crimson hopes that the 24-day hiatus from conference play hasn’t cooled the team off.

In its last game of the calendar year, Harvard (9-1-2, 5-1-2 ECAC) resumes its ECAC slate as it hosts Rensselaer in Cambridge on Tuesday. The Crimson returns to the Bright-Landry Hockey Center for intercollegiate play for the first time in over a month to try to keep pace with No. 15/15 Quinnipiac for first place in the conference.

“This is our only league game in a while, so these two points are enormous,” junior co-captain Kyle Criscuolo said. “We need to play like we’re a first place team.”

Coming out of their own two-week break, the Engineers (6-12-1, 4-4-0) are hoping to reverse their luck. RPI has not won since before Thanksgiving and is riding a five-game losing skid. The Engineers have not lost by fewer than two goals since November 28.

RPI will also be looking to erase the memories of an earlier blowout loss to Harvard on home ice. Two power play goals from junior forward Jimmy Vesey and 14 saves from junior goaltender Steve Michalek powered the Crimson to a 4-0 win at the Houston Field House in early November.

“We need to make sure that they don’t pin us in the corners at all,” Criscuolo said. “We just need to use our speed to take advantage of their defensemen [like last game].”

Vesey has added seven more over the course of conference play, which has him ranked second in the conference in goals scored.

The Engineers have had troubles on defense in recent games. Led by senior goaltender Scott Diebold, RPI has averaged five goals against in its last four contests. Such a slide does not bode well for the Engineers against a high-flying Crimson offense that has averaged four goals in its last four games.

The Crimson had four of the 10 highest point scorers in the league entering its break, despite having played fewer games than most teams in the conference. Vesey ranks fifth with 17 points. Criscuolo, sophomore forward Alexander Kerfoot, and junior defenseman Patrick McNally are not far behind.

McNally has provided key production from the blue line this season. The Milton Academy grad leads all Division I defenders with 1.25 points per game.

“Pat’s a versatile player,” Criscuolo said. “He’s great defensively, has a great stick. Offensively, he’s deceivingly fast and uses his reach well and finds some guys in front of the net. He’s been huge for us in terms of logging ice time.”

The Crimson hopes not to have to rely on its hot scoring to pull out the win against the Engineers. Harvard ranks third in the conference in goals against, while Michalek ranks second in save percentage with a .944 success rate.

While RPI ranks near the middle of the conference in goals for, a scoring star has not yet emerged for the Engineers. Sophomore Riley Bourbonnais and junior Milos Bubela lead the team with four goals each. Three of Bourbonnais’ goals on the year came in a hat trick against Union on Nov. 1. Harvard has six players who have beat the opposing goalie at least four times on the year.

“Depth this year is definitely one of our strong suits,” sophomore forward Tyler Moy said. “We have a lot of players who are contributing on offense. Obviously people can’t be their best every night, so it’s nice to know you have players by your side who can pick up your slack when things aren’t going well.

A win for the Crimson would accomplish something that has not been done in over a decade. Harvard has not won seven games in a row since March 2004.

—Staff writer Kurt T. Bullard can be reached at kurtbullard@college.harvard.edu.